Category: 200 hour yoga ttc

When you practice Prasarita Padottanasana (Wide-Legged Standing Forward Bend), the aim is to fold forward from the hips so that you can stretch your hamstrings without straining your back. It doesn’t matter how close you get to the ground. What matters is that you learn to stabilize your legs and your spine while you bend forward.
When you do Prasarita Padottanasana mindfully, it stretches your hamstrings, calves, and hips; strengthens your feet, ankles, and legs; and builds awareness of how to protect your lower back. This pose is also a mild inversion, as it lowers your head and heart below your hips. The combination of the inverted shape and the forward fold tends to bring a wonderful feeling of calmness. Finally, this pose will build strength in your shoulders and upper back, and it will give length and ease to your neck muscles.

If you have tight hamstrings or hips, this pose will require a bit more skill and patience. Tight hamstrings will make it difficult for you to fold very far before your lower back begins to round. If this happens to you, bend your knees slightly to ease the stretch on your hamstrings so that you can keep your low back long and fold forward from your hip joints. Or you can choose to not go all the way to the floor: Place blocks under your hands to lift the floor to you.

How To Do The Prasarita Padottanasana

To begin this asana, stand at the front of your mat in the Tadasana.

Inhale. Take a step backward with your right foot so that your body faces the long edge of the mat.

Stretch your hands out such that they are at shoulder height and right above your feet. Then, bring your hands to your hips.

Inhale, and lengthen your chest and heart skywards, such that your torso is stretched as well. Exhale and bend forward until your fingertips touch the mat in front of you.

Beginner’s Tips

As beginners, it might be hard for you to touch your crown to the floor. Push yourself only as much as you can. Use a blanket, bolster, or a padded block to support your head in this asana.

Revolved Side Angle Pose is a deep, standing twist that challenges your balance and strengthens your legs and core. It’s a powerful variation on Extended Side Angle Pose (Utthita Parsvakonasana). It also combines the benefits of Warrior I (Virabhadrasana I) and Crescent Lunge Twist (Parivrtta Anjaneyasana).

The Sanskrit name for this pose, “Parivrtta Parsvakonasana” (PAHR-ee-VREE-tah PARZH-vuh-ko-NAHS-uh-nuh), comes from four words:

It also goes by various English names, including “Twisting Side Angle,” “Rotated Side Angle,” “Side Angle Twist,” and others. But no matter what your yoga teacher calls it, you’ll still gain all of the benefits from practicing this challenging, standing twist!

Benefits of Revolved Side Angle Pose

Revolved Side Angle stretches, tones, and strengthens the entire body, inside and out. It stretches the thighs, knees, ankles, calves, groins, chest, and shoulders. This pose builds strength in the legs, as well, particularly in the quadriceps and ankles. It also stimulates and tones the abdominal organs and lungs, which improves digestion, elimination, metabolism, and breathing capacity.

How To Do Revolved Side Angle Pose

Start by standing on your knees, and take your left leg in front into a 90 angle.
2. Lean your body towards your left leg, and twist towards the left.

Bring your right elbow past your left knee, and place the hands in prayer position.

Straighten the back leg and leave the heel open.
5. To enter the full pose, place your right hand on the floor (or on a block) on the outer side of the left leg, and bring the left arm up towards the ceiling. If this feels comfortable, you can bring your right arm further to form one line with the rest of the body.

The name ‘Vrikshasana’ is comes from Sanskrit, in which ‘Vriksha’ means Tree and meaning of Asana is to seat, pose or posture. When this pose is performed effectively, it would seem that a tree. As it were, you stop like a tree in the last position of this stance. The leg that you are remaining on resembles a trunk attached to the ground with arms and the other leg and the head go about as branches and clears out. So it is called Tree pose. This Pose has a place with the Inverted Balancing gathering of stances. It is a standout amongst the most troublesome, intriguing and powerful yoga postures.

Benefits of Vrikshasana:

Vrikshasana (tree pose yoga) is useful for people suffering from spine deformities, upper and lower extremities joint arthritis, shoulder and leg weakness, and also giddiness. It alleviates pain in rheumatism patients, strengthens the ligaments of feet, tendons and arches, helps in improving neromuscular coordination, and makes your leg stronger. This pose also increases concentration power, balance, and flexibility.

Tree Pose Step-By-Step

Start with Tadasana (Mountain Pose)

Bring your palms together at heart center.

Rooting through the four corners of your right foot and engaging your right quadricep and your core, slowly lift your left leg and bring the sole of the foot anywhere above or below your right knee. *Never on your knee!!

Inhale and lengthen through the crown of your head. Find your focus directly in front of you and keep it at a soft gaze.

As you take your five deep breaths here, you can choose any arm variation such as raising your arms over your head, keeping it in prayer or separated but still in alignment with your shoulders–growing your tree.

Slowly release your arms back to heart center and release the left leg. Repeat on the right side.

Many people avoid yoga because they’re not flexible, but Carter says they are the very ones who should take up the practice! Yoga increases concentration, strengthens muscles, dials down stress, and can give you better posture.

Before you get started: Remember to maintain a smooth and even breath throughout the poses and don’t hold any pose longer than you’re physically able. You can increase the length and deepness of each pose with practice. One sign that you held a pose for too long is that you don’t have enough energy to come out of the position with grace and integrity.

Yoga will help you lose weight. Practicing yoga changes your mind: It changes the way you approach life, your body, and eating. Yoga shows you how to appreciate your body for all of the amazing things that it can do for you and points you in the direction of wanting to fill your body with the best possible fuel rather than processed junk food. And changing your mind about your body and the foods you feed it will be a much more effective weight-loss tool than burning a bunch of calories in an aggressive kick-boxing class and then mindlessly plowing through equal or more calories later that day.

Surya Namaskar (Sun Salutations)

Utkatasana (Chair Pose)

Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward Facing Dog)

The cat poseyoga is fairly a simple pose. But in the event you find it hard to round the top of your upper back, you could ask a friend or your instructor to help you out. Ask them to place their hand between and above the shoulder blades so that it can help activate that region.

It might be a good idea to start off the practice with the preparatory poses so that your muscles are flexed enough by the time you come to this asana.

According to the CDC, back pain strikes 80 percent of the people in our population at some time in their life. This makes it imperative that we teach our spines to be more flexible through poses such as Cat and Cow. Think about it, your back health means everything when it comes to living your life fully! Keeping a healthy spine is crucial and part of that includes flexibility training.

Modifications

If you experience anxiety, it is best to avoid breath retention due to the potential spike in the sympathetic nervous system (fight/flight response center) and focus on the exhale to promote the parasympathetic nervous system (rest/digest response center).

Benefits of Marjariasana (The Cat Pose)

Marjariasana loosens up the spine and make it flexible. It gets rid of stiffness in the back muscles.

It is good for those suffering from Spondylitis and slipped disk.

Marjariasana also has an indirect effect on the organs of the lower abdomen, including the digestive system, intestines and the reproductive organs. It gives a good massage and stretch to these organs.

The word Katichakrasana comes from the Sanskrit words ‘Kati’ which means waist, ‘Chakra’ which means wheel or circular rotation and ‘Asana’ which means pose. It is also one of the basic yoga asanas that can be easily performed by a beginner. The only thing that is needed is to have a balance of the feet.
Uttanasana is a widely practiced classic standing forward-bend pose that works every part of your body, but particularly your spine. It also wakes up the hamstrings and soothes the mind. Practitioners say this pose rejuvenates the nervous system, eases depression and boosts blood circulation. No wonder it’s so popular!
The standing spinal twist is good exercisefor toning legs and arms, increasing flexibility and releasing upper body tension.

How to do standing spinal twist yoga pose

The easy and simple steps to perform Katichakrasanaare being described below:

Stand straight with one foot comfortably apart.

Both the arms should be out-stretched in front of the chest while palms are facing to each other. It should be ensured that distance between the arms remain constant.

With exhale, swing the arms to the right side as far as possible by making waist rotation. Maintain the pose as long as you can. With inhale, bring your arms before the chest.

The same thing may be followed while bending your arms towards the left side.

Perform it 5 to 10 times or up to two minutes.

Variations

Harder: If you are breathing with ease in the twist, it is fine to move on. You can spread your arms wide apart like wings. Roll open your shoulders.
Easier: To make this pose slightly less strenuous, try performing it in a ‘bound’ position. Bring your top arm behind your back and your bottom arm beneath the thigh of your front leg. Clasp your hands together and hold.

Benefits of the Standing Spinal Twist (Katichakrasana)

Good for relieving constipation

Strengthens and improves the flexibility of the spine and waist

Good for arm and leg muscles

Opens up the neck and shoulders and strengthens the abdominal muscles and lower back

The final pose of any yoga class is one of deep restoration: Corpse Pose, also sometimes called Final Relaxation Pose. Its Sanskrit name, “Savasana” (shah-VAHS-uh-nuh), comes from two words. The first is “Sava” (meaning “corpse”), and the second is “asana” (meaning “pose”). Savasana implies a depth of release that goes beyond simple relaxation. This resting pose takes your yoga practice to a place where you can completely let go.

It looks like the easiest pose in the whole yoga practice, but when doing its one the hardest pose. But the benefits of Savasanaare more than any other asana (posture). That’s why it is recommended that you should do savasana after every 30 minutes of yoga practice, if not, than once after finishing the yoga class or practice.

At the end of every yoga class, you know those few minutes when you’re asked to lie down straight, with your legs placed apart and arms by your side. It is a moment when you oscillate between relaxation and blissful sleep by performing an ancient yoga asana known as Shavasanaor Savasana (pronounced as Shuh-vaas-ana) that takes its name from two Sanskrit words ‘shava‘ which means cobra and ‘asana‘ which means post.

Savasana relaxes the central nervous system, giving the cells of the body an opportunity to really permeate the fresh oxygenated blood, easing all the muscles and giving them the best treat after its hard work during playtime. Allowing your body to fully immerse in this pose will signal a sense of gratitude for being on the edge, and staying strong through those tough poses. Corpse pose also calms the brain which alleviates headaches, fatigue, stress and mild depression.

Set yourself up for success. Stretch out on your mat and be sure you’re completely comfortable. Use bolsters, pillows, blankets, and cover your eyes with an eye pillow or towel. The more comfortable you are, the more you can relax.

Take one final cleansing breath. Your teacher will likely prompt you to take one audible exhale, signaling to your body to release into the pose.

Scan for tension. Mentally run through all the parts of your body and try to make them heavier. Be on the lookout for tension hiding in the jaw, temples, shoulders, and hips

Set an intention.Before you come out of Savasana, take a mental snapshot of how you feel on every level. Ask yourself what you’d like to take with you from your practice, and what you might like to leave behind

Hatha Yoga is a series of asanas or postures that seek to open up the channels in the body for free flow of energy, thereby creating harmony and balance between two opposing forces. The result is that the body develops a balance between strength and flexibility along with surrender and submission in each pose.

All the poses for this 60-minute sequence for a beginner Hatha Yoga classcome from the books Asana, Pranayama, Mudra, Bandha by Swami Satyananda Saraswati and The Yoga Bible by Christina Brown.

The descriptions following the poses in this list are critical to performing the postures properly and not a detailed description of how to perform them. I recommend acquiring the above books, which are excellent texts, or searching the Yoga Journal Pose Finder for that information.

Hatha Yoga For Overall Fitness

When practiced regularly, Hatha yoga poses improvemultiple aspects important to physical fitness. As revealed in a study published in a 2001 issue of Preventive Cardiology, a minimum of two yoga classes attended per week — these included 10 minutes of dynamic warm-up poses and 50 minutes of asana — for eight weeks improved oxygen uptake, muscular strength and endurance and joint mobility.

Note :

The first point to remember is that if you feel sharp pain in the joints or muscles, you must immediately stop the asana. It may be that the pose is not right for you or there is something wrong with your body alignment. If your body just feels the exertion of the exercise you can continue to push yourself to maintain your posture.

Upward-Facing Dog Pose — Urdhva Mukha Svanasana (OORD-vuh MOO-kuh shvan-AHS-uh-nuh) — is a back-bending yoga posture that lengthens and strengthens the spine, torso, and arms. Its name comes from four Sanskrit words:

“Urdhva” — meaning “upward”

“Mukha” — meaning “face”

“Svana” — meaning “dog”

“Asana” — meaning “pose”

Like most yoga poses, Urdhva Mukha Svanasana must be performed at least 3-5 hours after a meal and it is preferable that your stomach and bowels should be empty at this time. Even though Urdhva Mukha Svanasana is an easy yoga pose, you can perform a few preparatory asanas as this will prepare you both physically and mentally to perform this pose. You can learn a few Urdhva Mukha Svanasana prep poses such as Bhujangasana (Cobra pose), Setu Bandhasana (Bridge pose), and Sarvangasana (Shoulderstand pose) before you learn how to do Upward Facing Dog Pose pose

Beginner’s Tips

Let go of that silly, silly belief that you need to lift your chin. Let that be the icing on the cake. Think this pose more of a chest opener than backbend. Drawing the nose into the face helps to lengthen the neck and melt the shoulders away from the ears, creating more space to open up.

Oh, and BREATHE! Otherwise, you will die…which, if you think about it, kinda misses the point of all this stuff.

Upward-Facing Dog Step-by-Step

From Table pose, slowly drop the hips forward toward the floor.

Press palms down into the floor, drop the shoulders down and back, press the chest forward, and reach the crown of the head up towards the ceiling.

Inhale and lift thighs and legs off of the floor by pressing the tops of the feet down and engaging Mula Bandha.

Breathe and hold for 1-3 breaths.

To release: bend the knees and lift the hips back up into Table Pose.

Benefits of Urdhva Mukha Svanasana

Best exercise for your wrists.

Beneficial for lower back coz this pose stretches the lower back muscles.

Trikonasana or the triangle pose is a good stretching exercise which gives flexibility to the spine and pelvic region. In Sanskrit ‘trikona’ means ‘three corners’ or a ‘triangle’.

Trikonasana is an excellent posture to develop strength and balance. It also gives flexibility to the legs, waist and knees. It gives a sense of expansiveness as the arms and torso are bent and reaches for the toes. It gives a sense of balance for the whole body. Those who have stiff legs, knees and waist can use this posture to regain their flexibility and strength.

Alignment & Anatomical Focus:

At either end of the spine lie the triangular shapedbones of the sacrum (at the base) and the occiput (at the base of the back of the skull).The asana has two lines of energy radiating outward from the centre pelvis. The first line of energy moves down the legs and into the feet. The second line travels through the spine and arms into the hands.

In satanic ritual, conjuring demons requires that three black animals are sacrificed. The three primary gods (Anu, Bel, and Ea) of ancient Babylon represent Heaven, Earth and the Abyss.

The symbolic importance of triangles and the number three can be found throughout history and across all cultures. We can find it in the following well-known grouping of concepts such as:
1. Body, mind, and spirit.
2. Past, present, and future.
3. Art, science, and religion.